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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23796517">The Magic of Four</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/pseuds/FiresFromOurHearts'>FiresFromOurHearts</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Small Harry Potter Things [35]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Horcrux Hunting, Horcruxes, Magic, Sentient Hogwarts, Time Travel, i'm glad that's a tag, information gathering</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:07:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,780</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23796517</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/pseuds/FiresFromOurHearts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Called into a future that they do not know, the founding four have only one task: to remove the darkness staining Hogwarts. But they will learn that their task is one bigger than they had originally thought. </p><p>(can be read as a stand-alone)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Godric Gryffindor &amp; Helga Hufflepuff &amp; Rowena Ravenclaw &amp; Salazar Slytherin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Small Harry Potter Things [35]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/719196</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Magic of Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onyx_Light/gifts">Onyx_Light</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A gift to Onyx_Light since they commented on the prequel to this and I started working on this. It's not fantastic and I'm not overly happy with it, but it's a start of something at the very least.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Between one breathe and the next, they came back.</p><p>Salazar breathes in and breathes out and counts the beats of his frantic heart. He’s here but where here is, he doesn’t know. He hadn’t been here moments ago—but he’s meant to be here. He feels it in his bones; feels it in the magic buzzing at his fingertips. In the back of his head, there’s a task, something given by Hogwarts and magic and wishes and hope.</p><p>He might not know this world, not its intricacies or its developments, but he knows magic and knows himself. That will be enough. And he can make it enough, especially with the others at his side.</p><p>Because he isn’t alone. Magic forbid that he gets into trouble by himself when it can be quadrupled with his siblings-in-magic.</p><p>Godric meets his gaze, smiles, and moves to stand next to him. “You heard Hogwarts’ call?”</p><p>“I think we all did,” Helga replies, standing firm, as she looks around. “I wonder what our school looks like now, with all the passing of time.”</p><p>Rowena hums, grief hardly faded from her brow. Still, she gathers herself and her mind, and steps closer to the others. “I don’t quite remember placing down a spell for this and I doubt any of you did it alone.”</p><p>“It’s magic,” Helga says—as if that explains anything—rolling her eyes. “Rules are only rules when they aren’t being broken.” She pauses. “Just to make sure, we’re all planning to burn out the darkness from Hogwarts and move this war elsewhere if nothing else, correct?”</p><p>“Of course,” Godric replies, eyes flashing. “That’s the task Hogwarts gave to us and so we will complete it.”</p><p>“That said,” Salazar interjected. “We first need to find out what the situation is. We can’t go rushing into this.”</p><p>Godric tilts his head and Rowena narrows her eyes in thought. “Gather information first and formulate a plan second?”</p><p>Nodding, Helga says, “Sounds good. After all, once we complete our task, there’s no saying what could happen to us.”</p><p>“We might return to our own time,” Godric points out. “Or we could simply vanish since we travelled through time. There’s no point speculating until things are done. We just have to ensure that the students of Hogwarts aren’t punished for any actions we take.”</p><p>Salazar breathes in. Breathes out. Nods. “Sounds like a smart plan,” he agrees. “Let’s go figure out what’s happening in our world.”</p>
<hr/><p>Gathering information is easier than it should be. Or, at least, some parts are easy and some parts are less easy. Helga sits in the public library and reads and reads and they all chip in to try and condense the information reduce the propaganda. Helga’s easily the best at it, hard work and perseverance and single-minded determination.</p><p>The rest of them flit in and out of social scenes and circles. They’re all capable of reading a person’s body language and looking after themselves. And it’s easy to hide in the shadows or stand in the light, because people are still people no matter the era.</p><p>It took them a few months before they finally had most of the knowledge they needed. Surviving, initially, in a world more modern than any of them were used to had been difficult, but being forced into assimilating had quickened their ability to adjust—as had magic, of course.</p><p>And now, a few months into their current lives, they’d identified the main cause of the world’s current fear. It’s not difficult, to find out, but it is difficult to get to the nitty gritty details behind the uprising—second uprising, that is.</p><p>But they’ve built a school together when such things were far from normal, especially in the world of magic; they’d united societies full of magic that’d been completed isolated beforehand; they’d come together when they should never have met. Their lives have rarely been easy, but that’s the point. They’ve made things work despite it, or maybe because of it. Being brought to the future by Hogwarts is something new, but they’ve lived through everything so far and they will continue to do so.</p><p>In short, they manage.</p><p>With the information they’ve collected, they start planning. Plan after plan comes together as they attempt to plan for various situations. There’s no such thing as a perfect plan and it certainly won’t hold together for long, but they make contingencies and end up with a loose, flexible plan that should be enough.</p><p>Will be enough, if Salazar has anything to say about it. He knows the others feel the same. So with their wands and their weapons and their information, they return to Hogwarts for the first time in centuries.</p>
<hr/><p>Hogwarts isn’t occupied territory, not really. There are people there who shouldn’t be and Hogwarts is screaming at them to get out—but it’s not part of the war, not yet. It’s what’s hidden inside Hogwarts that’s the real issue.</p><p>Its dark magic that bites something fierce, cannibalistic and wretched and empty in all the worst ways. It’s hungry and a void, a yawning abyss that keeps pulling and pulling, waiting for something to fill it up.</p><p>When they’re within Hogwarts’ walls, Salazar feels it immediately. It sends a shiver cascading down his spine, but he doesn’t stumble. Rowena does, her feet hesitant for a moment, before she regains her balance and stares ahead like she can fix things with her glare alone. Godric pales but remains steady, as he always does in the face of any danger. Helga shudders and a fierce expression settles over her face.</p><p>Once again, it’s the four of them against the world. A world they don’t know but also doesn’t know them. They’ll manage just like they have for so many years passed.</p><p>“It’s hidden in my chamber,” Helga says, resting a hand against the wall, letting her attention spread through the castle in thin tendrils. “How <em>dare</em> he!”</p><p>Helga on the warpath is always a wonder to behold. Completely scary and absolutely nerve-wracking, but when you’re out of her way it’s amazing to watch. Magic crackles and dances around her, protective and dangerous.</p><p>And she’s angry, like all of them, of having to wait for so long—even though it was necessary.</p><p>Her siblings-in-magic follow her through hallways, Hogwarts carefully shielding them and secreted away from others. They come to a stop in front of a wooden door that looks remarkably plain. Helga frowns at it.</p><p>“You know exactly what I want to find,” she tells it, before opening the door.</p><p>Instantly, Salazar makes a face at the dark magic that has sunken into the room, slipping around his legs like it wants to trip him. Regardless, he steps forward, wand raised.</p><p>“The atmosphere in here,” Rowena pauses, thinking over her words, “it’s wrong, but I can’t say how.”</p><p>Godric nods in agreement. “It’s dark magic and it’s reaching out.” He waves his wand, and dark tendrils appear, reeling backwards before vanishing once again. “It’s trying to corrupt us, I believe.” Turning, he offers Helga a smile. “Your room has been very impressive in keeping it contained.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Helga replies, even though her voice contains no gratitude, “but there’s something else here to that’s helping. Rowena, are you feeling this?”</p><p>“Yes. There’s my magic here to, weaving with yours to form a barrier of some sort.” Rowena glances at Salazar. “Can you track the dark magic to its source?”</p><p>“I’m not a scent hound,” Salazar says, scowling, even as he closes his eyes.</p><p>Godric laughs. “And yet you almost always track magic back to its source,” he says.</p><p>“He’s got a point,” Helga says cheerfully as she starts working on a ward to block the dark magic better.</p><p>“I hate all of you,” is the reply Salazar gives them, before leading them in a twisted path along the large piles of items that the room contains. As they get closer and closer to the source, the paler he gets.</p><p>“You alright?” Rowena asks softly at his side, eyes flickering to him and then away. They all know he’s more susceptible to the pull of dark magic; easier to corrupt since he’s already been corrupted before.</p><p>Salazar breathes out slowly and takes careful stock of his own defences and shields. “For now,” he agrees. “But this magic is… strong. Feels almost tangible on my tongue.”</p><p>Helga hums in agreement, before her eyes narrow. “Hey, Rowena, is that your diadem?”</p><p>Rowena curses. “It is.” She shudders, “But the magic that’s sunk into it certainly isn’t mine anymore.”</p><p>“We destroying it?” Godric checks.</p><p>“Yes,” Salazar hisses from clenched teeth. “This thing’s <em>powerful</em>.”</p><p>“The wards are… impressive,” Helga admits reluctantly. “Only magic equal or greater will be able to damage it like how we want it to.”</p><p>Despite the circumstances, the knowledge that this might be their end, Rowena can’t help but smile. “And where one may fail, two or more are likely to succeed,” she murmurs softly. It’s a truth that they had once all struggled to grasp, but now understand in its entirety.</p><p>Together, they start casting. Rowena leads the spell, manipulating it and providing it with an intention to destroy. Godric lends his strength to it, providing an edge of danger and reinforces the spell’s shield preventing any backlash. Helga provides her anger and determination, giving the spell the energy it needs to work. And, beneath them all, Salazar pinpoints weak spots and carefully smoothens the ragged edges, whilst also directing the spell to find the dark object’s weaknesses.</p><p>In unison, with a well-practised twist of their wands, the four cast the spell. It slips over the diadem, which shrilly screams, and appears to bleed something dark and oily that looks like the worst of dark magic given physical shape.</p><p>It makes Salazar feel nauseous and dizzy, but he tightens his grip on his wand, waiting and hoping for the spell to work like it’s meant to. Not that they’ve ever used the spell on a horcrux, though.</p><p>With one last scream, the object falls silent and the diadem breaks into pieces, splintering and fracturing before those pieces become ashes.</p><p>“That’s done then,” Rowena says, glaring at the object. “And good riddance.”</p><p>“We’re still here though,” Godric says slowly. “I don’t feel like our task is complete either.”</p><p>Salazar shakes his head, reaching out to Hogwarts. The school reaches back and provides him with some more information. “No, our task is far from done,” he agrees, glancing at the others who seem to have also reached out to Hogwarts. “There’s more to do before our school is safe.”</p><p>“Well then,” Helga says, cracking her knuckles. “Let’s get started.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Like I mentioned earlier, I wasn't very happy with how this came out and there's a lot I could explore if I really wanted to. But... I don't have an urge to right now. That might change in the future, but for now, it is what it is. </p><p>I hope you guys are all doing well and looking after yourselves. If you want more, feel free to comment and I'll see what I can do (this goes for most of my works, to be honest).</p></blockquote></div></div>
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